The Slip-Up
by teddyshoney
Summary: Kurt's upset and lets it slip that Noah is his Daddy. What will Blaine do with that new information? WARNING: This is an age play story and may contain spanking or mentions of spanking.
1. The Slip-Up

As Kurt and Blaine settled into their usual seats at the Lima Bean, Kurt was worrying his lower lip between his teeth and fretting. "I can't believe somebody told the headmaster! I can't believe it! I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

"I don't see why you're so upset, Kurt. We just got a token talking to. It's no big deal." This wasn't the first time the headmaster at Dalton Academy had spoken with the Warblers about sneaking off campus for impromptu performances. Blaine had been involved in at least three separate instances, and while a comment went on their school record, nothing big ever came of it. They got their slips signed by their parents, notifying them of the incident, and that was that.

"You don't understand!" Kurt wailed, falling against the back of the booth dramatically. "Daddy is going to be so mad at me!" Immediately, Kurt gasped and his hands clamped over his mouth. Since his transfer to Dalton, Blaine had quickly become his good friend, and Kurt had shared a lot with Blaine. But, he hadn't told him any more about Noah than that he was Kurt's boyfriend.

Blaine looked puzzled. "Who?" He'd heard Kurt talk about his dad on several occasions, but Kurt had never called him anything ever than "my dad" that he could remember.

"Uh..." Kurt stuttered, his mind scrambling to come up with an explanation for his slip-up. "Um..."

Blaine watched Kurt's face carefully, puzzled. Who could Kurt have been referring to when he said, "Daddy?" The gears in Blaine's mind cranked slowly as he thought, until all of a sudden the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. His boyfriend. Then, Blaine's mind was racing and his heart was thumping. Kurt had said "Daddy" which was something Blaine was pretty sure he knew about. If Kurt had a daddy, then he had what Blaine had been wanting for a while now but never thought he'd find.

He actually knew quite a lot about age play and age regression and everything related to those topics. Shortly after coming to Dalton, he'd needed something to calm him, to help him focus and relax. He found that the stress of his classes, being a lead vocalist in the Warblers, and making new friends was hard to handle after coming from a small public school where he'd spent his junior high years getting bullied repeatedly. After running across ageplay on a BDSM site that a friend had suggested he check out following a discussion in health class, Blaine had been hooked. He even supposed, though only to himself, that if he'd known about this while at his public school, he'd probably have never needed to transfer to Dalton.

Something major had always been missing for him, though. While using a paci or coloring whenever he was stressed seemed to help in the short term, there was never any one there to take care of him long term, and there was only so much self soothing he could do.

Blaine's parents had been very part-time in his life since he was quite young, first leaving Cooper to "babysit" while they went on business trips and eventually leaving him on his own when Cooper went to college. Their high profile government jobs had them traveling a lot, and there were times when Blaine would not see his parents for a week or more at a time.

He wanted someone to watch what he was doing, hold him accountable, discipline him when he lost his way, and love him when he was sad. Or happy, or any emotion really. But especially when he was sad. It was something he'd always craved, even before he knew about age play, and the gifts that his parents frequently gave him just couldn't make up for the lack of human contact.

When Kurt continued to stammer, Blaine got an idea. Quickly, he opened a text message on his phone and typed out, " _Age play?_ " before passing the phone across the table to Kurt.

Kurt read the message and looked up at Blaine incredulously. How had he known? Slowly, he nodded, sliding the phone back to Blaine.

" _With your boyfriend?_ "

Another nod.

Blaine stood then, offering his hand to Kurt. "C'mon," he said, jerking his head toward the parking lot. "Let's go for a drive."

Kurt looked nervous, but he nodded a third time, holding Blaine's hand as he slid from the booth and stood up.

Once he and Blaine were safely in the car, driving aimlessly but in the general direction of Dalton Academy, Kurt turned wide, questioning eyes to Blaine. "How did you-?"

"I've read about it," Blaine explained as he turned the car down another road.

"Oh." Kurt didn't know what else to say.

Blaine was trying to work up the courage and find the right words to tell Kurt that he was—well, that he needed, wanted to find a daddy. Finally he said, "Can I tell you a secret, Kurt?"

"I guess?" Kurt's brain was going a million different directions and everything was confusing right now. He really just wanted to go home to Daddy, tell him what happened, and accept the consequences so they could spend the rest of the night snuggling, and Kurt didn't have to be a big boy anymore.

"I use that, sometimes, to relax. I have a pacifier and a coloring book." Blaine's face was a deep red.

"Do you have a daddy?" Kurt wanted to know.

"No. I just do it to self soothe."

When Kurt didn't respond, Blaine went on. "I want one. A daddy, that is. But I doubt I'll ever find one. You're the first person I've ever met that knows about it. I kinda figured that I was mostly...alone." The last word came out in a whisper, and his voice caught in his throat just a bit.

Kurt was really at a loss for words. He hadn't ever wanted anyone else to know about his and Noah's relationship, but now that secret was out of the bag. And truth be told, he'd become really fond of Blaine over the past few weeks. He was nice to Kurt, plus he was cute. Hearing Blaine sound so sad about never having a daddy made Kurt feel badly. But, he didn't think there was anything that he could do. So he lamely said, "I'm sorry."

As they rolled up to a stop sign, Blaine turned wide eyes to Kurt. "Tell me about it? What's it like? Do you like it? How'd it happen?" The questions tumbled out quickly, and Blaine felt a little bit silly, but he was too excited, embarrassed, and curious all at once to do anything about it.

Kurt swallowed, seeing the emotions on his friend's face. He wasn't sure he really wanted to talk about this, let alone give out all the details. Deciding to start simple, he said, "I like it. Noah's good at it."

"Do you get spanked?" Blaine asked, quite before he could catch himself. It was something he'd always been curious about, having never really been disciplined or in trouble by his parents. It was not, however, a question to ask an uncomfortable friend, and Blaine immediately hated that it had come out of his mouth. The question hung heavily in the air, and he scrambled to take it back. "I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't mean—That was—Kurt I'm-" he sputtered.

"Take me back to Dalton. I want to go home," Kurt gritted out. He hadn't even wanted to talk about it, and Blaine had gone and asked a super personal question that was absolutely none of his business. Kurt's face was red from anger and embarrassment.

"Kurt, really. I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses. I don't really want to talk about this, and it's none of your business anyway. Take me back."

Blaine sighed. He'd really stepped in it. Even as he turned the car in the direction of the school, his mind was racing, trying to come up with a way to apologize. Kurt was a great friend, and he was cute, too. He didn't want to lose him.

As soon as Blaine shifted the car into park at the Dalton Academy parking lot, Kurt opened the door and slipped out into the cool fall air. "Bye, Kurt," Blaine called. "I'm really sorry."  
"Yeah," was all Kurt said as he got into his own car and shut the door.

Blaine let his head rest against the steering wheel for a moment before sitting up straight. He was going to fix this, he determined. He had to.


	2. The Play Date

The next day, after their final class, Blaine grabbed Kurt's arm as he headed down the hallway. "Hey. I know you're probably still upset with me, but I want to apologize and talk it through. Let me buy you a cup of coffee and a donut. Please," he begged.

Kurt eyed him. He didn't really want to give Blaine the chance to bring up his slip from yesterday again, but he didn't want to lose Blaine's friendship either. "Fine," he answered a bit gruffly. "But I have to be home by five today."

"Thank you, Kurt! Lima Bean sound okay?"

"Sure."

So, Blaine drove the two of them to the Lima Bean. The car ride passed in stiff silence, the only sound the soft music he had turned on shortly after pulling out of the parking lot.

Once at the shop, he ushered Kurt to a small booth at the back, assuring him that he knew his coffee order. A few minutes later, he returned to the booth with two steaming cups and two chocolate donuts.

Kurt dove into his snack with gusto, Blaine picking at the glaze for a few minutes before he could no longer stand it. "I'm really sorry, Kurt, about yesterday. That was really personal, and I should never have asked that."

"No, you shouldn't," Kurt agreed, swallowing a bite of donut. "But, I forgive you."

Blaine smiled at that. Thank goodness his friend was so kind. But, Blaine knew he couldn't let it go without trying to explain himself. So, he gathered as much confidence as he could and plunged forward. "It's just—well, like I said yesterday, I've always wanted a daddy. I don't know where to find one, though. I'm not sure there's even a possibility of me finding one. But, would—can—would you tell me about it? What it's like, I mean?" Blaine opened his mouth to say more but was unsure of what to say, so he closed it again and looked pleadingly at Kurt.

Kurt, for his part, was kicking himself for forgiving Blaine so easily. It wasn't that he'd planned on _not_ forgiving him; he'd just wanted to make him work for it a bit. But, it was too late, and now, Blaine wanted him to talk about his personal relationship with Noah. He wasn't going to. He didn't want to, but one look to Blaine's sad eyes, and Kurt's resolve was practically gone. "What do you want to know?" he asked, shifting in his seat. He winced a bit. His bottom still hurt from the night before. It had gotten better throughout the day, but it was still a little sore when he sat for too long.

Blaine didn't miss the wince and couldn't help himself. "Did you get spanked last night?" he whispered, leaning across the table toward Kurt.

Kurt let out a sigh. What was this boy's obsession with that? "Yes," he bit out unhappily.

"Why?"

Kurt shrugged. He didn't want to talk about this. Why had he even agreed to come here?

Blaine could see the anger on Kurt's face, so he backed off. "I'm sorry." He felt silly for even asking that question. That was what had landed him on Kurt's bad side yesterday. He thought for a moment, trying to come up with something he could ask without sounding too pushy. "What do you and your daddy do for fun?" he finally asked.

Kurt swallowed his last bite of donut and began to pick at some crumbs on the table. If Blaine insisted on talking about this, he wasn't going to look at him. With a shrug, he replied, "We do a lot of normal couple stuff. Watch movies, talk."

"Even when you're feeling little?"

Kurt shrugged again. "Yeah. Maybe we play games or with toys. Sometimes we read or color. It's not really a big deal."

Blaine smiled sadly as he turned his coffee cup slowly on the table. "Maybe not to you. But to me it would be."

Kurt glanced up at his friend, fingers stilling for a moment. "You're serious about all this?"

Nodding, Blaine studied the table, replying in a soft voice, "Yeah. I'm serious."

Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling a bit bad at how he'd snarked at Blaine. He'd thought it was just curiosity. Making a decision, he leaned across the table toward him. With a light touch to his wrist, he said, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know. But you have to make me a deal."

Blaine perked up a bit at that. "Anything," he said, meeting Kurt's gaze and nodding vigorously.

"You have to be my partner on all projects in our classes this year, and you have to let me complain to you about Daddy."

Blaine grinned. "Deal."

"Great!" Kurt said, a mischievous smile lighting up his face. "I happen to know that we'll be getting a group assignment tomorrow in history class. I saw the agenda on his desk when I went up to turn in my quiz today. So, get ready, partner."

Blaine gave him a mock salute. "Aye, aye, Captain," he replied.

"Okay. Ask away, then."

"Do you have rules?"

And on and on the conversation went between the two boys for quite a while. Blaine would ask a question, and Kurt would reply animatedly.

Kurt had to admit, it did feel nice to share things with someone who understood the "little" side of things. Sure, Daddy was good to talk to, and he could solve all Kurt's problems; but, it wasn't the same. Blaine could understand why Kurt sometimes broke the rules—not because he wanted to be in trouble but because he wanted to make sure they were still enforced. Daddy would tell him all he had to do was ask, not act out, but Blaine understood why that wasn't the same in a way that Daddy couldn't.

And, the more they talked, the more Kurt came to the realization that maybe it would be nice to have another Little around, someone to play with when Daddy was busy, someone to take his side when he got into trouble or explain to Daddy why adding new rules wasn't fair. Without talking to Daddy, Kurt knew there wasn't much he could do yet, but he could do one thing...

Blaine was soaking everything up. Anything Kurt told him, he filed away for later. If he ever got a daddy, he would know something about it, how Daddies should treat their Littles. And, in the meantime, he'd have Kurt's stories to help him through those times when he really needed a daddy.

It was nice having Kurt to talk to about this. He was good at explaining different parts of the relationship Blaine had always been curious or nervous about, and he helped to put some of his fears to rest. While he was thankful for the friend and the conversation, he was still feeling some pangs of jealousy. Conversations and daydreams were great, but they weren't the real thing. That's what he needed, what he craved. He knew that he'd find one someday, or at least he hoped he would, but for now, no matter how hard it was, he'd have to settle for living vicariously through Kurt.

When there was a small break in his questions, however, Kurt surprised him. "I think you should meet my daddy," he said quietly, not quite brave enough to meet Blaine's gaze.

"Wha—why?" Blaine asked, confused and surprised.

"I think...I think he would like you. Plus, I'd like you to be able to come over and play. If you want to, I mean." His voice was quiet, his face red with embarrassment at his admission. He'd gone from wanting to leave and never talk about this with him to wanting him to come over and play. It was a big change, and, while he and Blaine were close, Kurt was still afraid that he would think he was weird.

At Kurt's suggestion that he could meet his daddy _and_ play with him, Blaine's eyes had grown large. His jaw went slack, and he stared at Kurt, open-mouthed for a moment as he tried to process what Kurt had just said. This was a dream come true! No, it was better than that because Blaine hadn't dreamed that something like this could be a possibility. Realizing that he must look like an idiot, he closed his mouth tightly, then sputtered, "I—I'd love to! But...when?"

Kurt glanced at his phone. "Shit!" His hands flew to his mouth in shock. "Don't tell Daddy I said that," he pled, then continued on in a rush. "Can you drive me home? I'm supposed to be there in three minutes, and I'll be in big trouble for being late again. But maybe he won't get too mad if you're there. Drive me home?" he asked again. "If we go all the way back to Dalton for my car, I'll be even later and that will be worse. I guess I'll have to see if Daddy will take me to get my car later tonight. Please?" he begged.

Blaine was already nodding. He'd have driven Kurt to the moon if he'd wanted, anything to show how thankful he was for letting him meet his daddy and play. It wouldn't be the same as having one of his own, but not being home every night alone would make it easier. "I'll drive you home," he agreed.

Kurt clapped gleefully. "Thank you!" he beamed. "Come on!" Standing from the booth, he pulled on Blaine's arm, urging him up. "Come on!"

As he walked with Kurt out to the car, he asked, "Won't your daddy be upset you didn't drive yourself home?"

Kurt didn't even pause, hurrying to the passenger side of the car and sliding in. "not as mad as if I was really late again." He considered not finishing his thought but added, "That's why I got spanked last night." His cheeks turned pink, and he stared at the floor mat.

Blaine was silent as he started the car and backed out of the parking lot. Thankfully, he'd been to Kurt's once before, so he remembered the way. A few blocks from the house, however, he said, "Your daddy seems kind of mean."

Kurt was shocked. "He's not mean!"

"He spanked you just for being late."

"Well, that's sorta my fault," Kurt admitted slowly. "We've talked about that a lot."

Blaine pursed his lips. A spanking or being late seemed like overkill, but he'd never met Noah; maybe he was a strict daddy. Stopping the car in front of Kurt's house, Blaine put the car in park, unlocking the doors without killing the engine.

Kurt looked confused. "Aren't you coming in?"

Blaine looked uncertain. "Isn't your daddy going to be upset with you?"

"I'll be okay," Kurt reassured. "Come on. I want you to meet him." Pushing the door open, he scrambled out of the car.

Hesitantly, Blaine pushed open his car door and followed Kurt toward his house. _For someone who's probably about to be in trouble_ , Blaine thought, _he's sure bouncing a lot_.

Noah was waiting impatiently at the kitchen table, looking angrily from his phone to the front door. Kurt was 10 minutes late! They'd just had a conversation about being late the night before, but it obviously hadn't left much of an impression. Noah thought, _if Kurt's not home in the next five minutes-_

But, he didn't get to finish that thought as the front door swung open, and Kurt bounced in. "Kurt Elizabeth Hummel," Daddy boomed, rising from his seat. "We just talked abo-" He stopped short at the sight of the shorter, curly-haired boy that timidly walked in behind Kurt. "Who's this?" Daddy asked, surprised.

"This is my friend, Blaine," Kurt replied, trying to gauge how Daddy was feeling about this. Turning, he gave Blaine a quick smile. "I brought him over because..." He opened his mouth to say more but decided against it. Instead, he walked over to Daddy and whispered something in his ear before hurrying back to Blaine's side.

Blaine was a little bit concerned that Kurt was whispering to his daddy about something he couldn't say out loud, but he tried to brush it off. Kurt liked him; he wouldn't do anything mean.

Noah wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't expected Kurt to bring anyone home with him, and he didn't want to make either boy uncomfortable. On one hand, by the look of Kurt's friend, he needed help. He looked sad and possibly on the verge of tears. But, on the other, he had to take care of Kurt because Kurt was his baby. And because of that, Kurt needed to have the rules enforced. So, Noah had to give him a punishment for being late. This decided, he looked sternly at the two boys who were watching him closely. "Blaine," he addressed the other boy, "are you planning to hang out with us tonight?"

Looking at Kurt hesitantly, Blaine nodded.

"Then I'd like you to go and sit at the kitchen table. I need to deal with Kurt right now."

With wide eyes, Blaine nodded again and walked slowly in the direction of the table.

"Could you take your shoes off and put them on the rug, please?" Noah called over his shoulder as he took Kurt by the arm and led him to the living room. Sitting down heavily on the couch, he pulled him between his knees before he asked, "What's going on, baby?"

"Daddy, Blaine needs us."

"What do you mean?"

"He's lonely, and he wants a daddy, too. Since he doesn't have one, I thought he could play with us." At seeing the apprehensive look on Noah's face, Kurt defended, "I'm trying to be nice."

"I'm glad you're trying to be nice, but now, I'm worried about you," Noah told him, deciding to worry about the curly-headed boy in the other room later. "You were late last night because you were out with Blaine. You're late again tonight because you're with Blaine. I'm worried that Blaine is a bad influence on you."

"Daddy! He's not! Honest!"

"So you're disobeying me on purpose?"

"N-no!" Kurt sputtered, unsure of how to explain.

"Well, Kurt, there has to be some sort of explanation for why you've been late two nights in a row," Noah said, patting Kurt's bottom firmly, making him squirm.

"I've just been...losing track of time?" Kurt tried.

"That's not any better, young man." 

"I like spending time with Blaine," Kurt sighed. "He's fun to be around, and I just forget to keep track of the time I'm supposed to be home." He wrung his hands in front of himself. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

"You're going to be," Noah replied, already undoing the button and zipper on Kurt's Dalton uniform.

"Daddy, you don't gotta spank me," Kurt whined, shifting quickly from foot to foot. He knew it was a bad idea to try to get away, but he really did not want another spanking. "You already did last night, and my bottom is still sore. I promise I'll remember to be on time." Daddy's face did not look promising. "I'll write you an essay," he tried.

"No dice, kiddo," Noah said as he pushed Kurt's pants and underwear down at the same time. Grabbing Kurt by his upper arm, he guided him over his lap, positioning his bare bottom and rubbing one hand briskly over it. "If your spanking from last night was a good enough reminder, you wouldn't have been late tonight." And with that, he raised his hand and smacked it down on Kurt's right cheek.

Kurt knew there was really no reason to protest; it wouldn't do any good, but he couldn't help but try. "Promise I'll be good, Daddy!" he begged even as Noah brought down a few more punishing swats.

Noah ignored the plea, warming up his baby's bottom, peppering firm swats across it. When both cheeks were a ncie shade of pink, he moved on to the thighs and Kurt's tender undercurve.

Kurt's whimpers and fluttering feet amped up as Daddy aimed lower, smacking his sit spots. Daddy was spanking really hard! He was just about to tell that to Daddy when the onslaught of smacks stopped and he heard, "Go get the wooden spoon."

"But Daddy!" Kurt protested, drumming his toes against the floor.

Daddy awarded him with another smack. "Do as you're told."

"But Blaine will see me!" Kurt whined as he rose, rubbing at his bottom. He imagined how his friend would feel about seeing his freshly smacked bottom. This made him quite uncomfortable.

"Do as I said," Daddy warned, "or you won't like the consequences." Noah wasn't worried about Blaine finding out about Kurt's punishment. Based on how sad and lonely he'd looked when he walked in and the way Kurt had said that he needed them, Noah was sure they'd be seeing a lot more of the boy. Knowing that Kurt was getting spanked wouldn't change anything other than perhaps making Kurt a bit embarrassed. Besides, he knew that if Kurt really wasn't okay with walking past Blaine like that, he'd safeword.

"Ugh!" Kurt said, stomping a foot before rushing out of the room after the spoon. A few moments later, he scurried back, the spoon clutched tightly in his hand. He thrust it at Daddy, a scowl on his face. He kept his distance a bit as he accused, "You're mean!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, baby. Come here so we can get this over with."

"Please don't use the spoon," he tried, not moving any closer.

"Too late. Come on," Daddy said, holding out a hand to Kurt.

Slowly, Kurt made his way toward Daddy, allowing himself to be positioned over his lap again. He hated the spoon. It made his bottom feel all stingy. But, he knew he deserved it; Daddy had just talked to him about being late the night before. It was one of their big rules, and he knew that Daddy had only made it after he chose to spend more and more time with his friends and less and less time doing homework.

Noah brought the spoon down a few times before he said anything. "Why are we here Kurt?" he asked.

"Ah! Was late! Ow!"

"Uh huh. And when are you supposed to be home by?"

"Five!"

"What were you doing that made you late?" He applied a few stingy swats to Kurt's sit spots.

"Daaaaaaaaaddyyyyyy! Ow! Hurrrrrrts."

"It's supposed to. Answer my question, please."

"Talking to Blaine!" Kurt got out.

Daddy smacked down a few more times.

"Daddyyyyyyyy, please nooooo moreeeeeeee!"

Noah didn't say anything in response, just smacking the spoon down twice more to accentuate his point before throwing the spoon down and rubbing the baby's bottom. He whispered to Kurt over and over as he wait for the sobs to taper off. Finally, he was able to help Kurt up from his lap and pulled him into a tight embrace, rubbing his back. "Shhh," he whispered. "You're okay now. Everything is forgiven, and your punishment is over."

Kurt sniffed a few times, wiping his tears and snotty nose on Daddy's shirt before sniffling, "I hate spankings."

"Good," Noah chuckled. "If you liked them, I'd be doing it wrong." He gave Kurt another hug and kissed him firmly when he stepped back. "Now, I'd like you to go and stand in the corner, please," he said, pointing to a corner of the living room where he'd be able to see Kurt from the dining table.

"But, Daddy," Kurt made grabby hands at him. "Don't wanna go to time out! Wanna be with you." He pooched out his bottom lip.

"And you can be. After your time out is over." When Kurt made no move toward his corner, Noah pointed again, asking, "Do you need help?"

Kurt shook his head adamantly. "No, Daddy. But, can I wear pants?" he pleaded. He really didn't want Blaine to be able to see him like that again.

But, Daddy shook his head. "This is the second time in two days we've had to talk about being late. I think you'll think better with no pants."

Kurt was going to protest again, but at the sight of Daddy's raised eyebrow, he decided against it. Dejectedly, he trudged to the corner and stood, staring at the wall. Thinking of the view Blaine must have, his cheeks began to heat, taking on a hue that nearly matched his bottom. He jumped, relaxing again when he realized it was Daddy's arms that had slid around his middle and now gave him a squeeze.

"Thank you for listening, baby," Daddy murmured. "I've started your time When time out is over, you can put on some pants and come find me. I'll be at the table with Blaine."

Kurt nodded, nuzzling into Daddy's neck.

Noah awarded him with a kiss to the cheek then moved away.

Kurt settled back into his corner and waited, thinking about what he'd done, only mildly concerned about Blaine now. Daddy was going to the table. He'd take care of it.

Noah made a beeline for the dining table, pulling out a chair and positioning it to block most of Blaine's view of Kurt in the corner. He sat down and faced the other boy who had pulled his legs up on the chair and wrapped his arms around them, regarding Noah with large, nervous eyes.

Blaine hadn't know what to do with himself when Kurt had been pulled into the living room by his Daddy. He'd taken his shoes off as requested, leaving them on the rug by the door before taking a seat at the table. He had heard voices coming from the living room but had tried not to listen in too closely, not wanting Kurt to be embarrassed later.

He'd tried to imagine what might happen in the future if he was allowed to keep playing with Kurt. Maybe he wouldn't need a daddy if he could come over a few times a week to play with Kurt. It wouldn't be the same as having a daddy of his own, but having some time to be little each week might help him relax and focus, quell some of his anxieties.

Just as he had begun to wonder what was going on with Kurt, his friend came dashing through the room, half naked. He'd thrown a glare Blaine's way, not stopping to say anything.

Blaine was confused, opening his mouth to ask Kurt what was going on when he came running back through, clutching a wooden spoon Blaine noticed that his friend's face was puffy and wet, as though he'd been crying. Then, as Kurt turned the corner to go back into the living room, Blaine gasped, pulling back in his chair.

Kurt was getting spanked! His bottom had been a dark shade of pink and had looked like it hurt. A lot! Blaine hadn't know what to think. Being late didn't really seem like that big of a deal, and if he'd thought Noah was scary and mean before, this latest development didn't help.

For a moment, he'd considered leaving. He could explain to Kurt at school the next day that his daddy had made him uncomfortable; Kurt would have understood. But a part of him had wanted to be there for Kurt to talk to later. He'd seemed to enjoy it at The Lima Bean, and, Blaine thought selfishly, he really wanted to play. So, he'd spent the next several minutes listening to the howls and wails coming from the living room, feeling second-hand embarrassment for Kurt as well as nervous about what might happen next. Would Kurt's daddy want to spank him for making Kurt late?

Blaine was so lost in thought about that that he jumped a bit when Kurt's daddy sat down in a chair at the table. Blaine knew he should say something, but he didn't know what, so he just stared at him with big, scared eyes.

Finally, Noah stuck out a hand. "Hi," he said, smiling gently at Blaine. "I'm Noah."

Cautiously, Blaine shook Noah's hand. "Blaine," he said, softly.

Noah knew he needed to proceed carefully, so he spoke to Blaine as he did to Kurt when Kurt was feeling his littlest, softly and gently. Blaine looked nervous and scared, and he didn't want to make him more uncomfortable. "Kurt's in time out right now," he explained, leaning forward just enough to rest his elbows on his knees. "So, I'm going to talk to you for a while, okay?"

Blaine nodded. He could just see Kurt's dark head over Noah's shoulder. "You spanked him," he whispered.

It wasn't a question, but Noah replied, "Yes. Sometimes, when Kurt gets in trouble, he gets spanked." Noah waited a minute, but Blaine didn't seem like he was going to say anything else, so he asked, "Do you and Kurt hang out at school?"

Blaine nodded again. "Kurt's my friend. He's really nice." _Wow_ , he thought to himself. _I sound like I'm three_. He didn't know where it was coming from, but Noah seemed okay with it.

"That's good," he replied, smiling. "Did Kurt invite you over to play?" Kurt had never done that before, but Noah could think of no other reason that Blaine had shown up.

"Uh huh."

Noah nodded. "Do you have a daddy?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Blaine shook his head.

Ignoring the non-verbal answer, Noah asked, "Do your parents know you're here?"

Blaine shook his head again. "They're not home."

"When will they be home?"

Shrugging, he squeezed his legs tighter as he said, "I dunno. In a couple of weeks probably."

Noah was sure his mouth was hanging open. "Do you have siblings at home?"

Sadly, Blaine shook his head. "No. 's just me. I have an older brother, but he lives in LA."

Noah's heart hurt. Blaine looked so sad and vulnerable. He wanted to wrap him up in a hug and tell him everything was going to be alright. He wanted to tell him he didn't have to be alone anymore, he was welcome to spend as much time as he wanted to with Kurt, and there would always be a place here for him. But he didn't know if Blaine would be okay with that, and he hadn't talked it over with Kurt, something that had to be done first. Instead, he settled with a quick pat to the knee, asking, "So you stay home alone?"

Blaine nodded, staring off into the distance. "All the time. My mom and dad work a lot."

"What do they do?"

"Something in a law firm?" he shrugged. "They've had these jobs for years."

"So you've been home alone...?" Noah trailed off.

"Since I was seven."

That explained it then, Noah realized. Blaine wanted someone to care about him and look after him because no one ever had. He felt an inexplicable urge to be the one to do that. Even though he hardly knew the boy, Noah wanted to love him and show him that someone cared. Until he talked to Kurt, though, there was nothing he could do. Noah wasn't quite sure what to do with himself, but just then, his watch beeped. Turning to look over his shoulder at his boyfriend's tense form, he called, "Time out's over, baby."

Gratefully, Kurt hurried over to the couch, tugging his pants back up over his still stinging bottom before running to the table and throwing his arms around Daddy's neck.

Daddy hugged back and pulled Kurt up onto his lap. Kurt hid his face against Daddy's neck, embarrassed that Blaine had witnessed him getting into trouble. Daddy rubbed his back reassuringly before asking, "Do you boys have your homework done?"

Kurt shook his head and slid off Daddy's lap, going to retrieve his backpack. He already knew what Daddy was going to say. From behind him, he heard, "Homework has to be done before you can play." Kurt knew he was talking to Blaine, but he couldn't help rolling his eyes as he picked up his bag and walked back to Daddy, climbing back onto his lap. Instead of pulling out his homework, however, he snuggled back into Daddy's chest, trying to soak up all the attention he could get. He wanted to suck his thumb and relax, but he wasn't comfortable doing that in front of Blaine.

Daddy wrapped his arms around Kurt, asking, "How much homework do you have, baby?"

"Just a biology worksheet and a chapter to read for English."

Daddy nodded, turning his attention to Blaine. The boy hadn't moved since Noah had sat down, but his grip around his knees had loosened just a bit, so Daddy took that as a good sign. Blaine was relaxing. "Do you have any homework, Blaine?"

"No, sir," came the hushed response followed almost instantly by a blush.

Noah wasn't sure where the "sir" had come from, but he had to hold back a smile at the blush. Thinking quickly, he asked, "Will you help me make some dinner while Kurt does his homework then?"

Blaine looked nervous. "I-I don't know how to cook."

"I'll show you," Noah reassured. Whispering in Kurt's ear, he asked, "That okay, baby?" You'll be able to see us the whole time." Noah really wanted to help this boy, but his first concern was Kurt.

Kurt nodded, reaching for his bag. "Blaine can help you, Daddy," he said aloud. Looking up and catching the nervous look on Blaine's face, he added, "Helping with dinner is fun." He reached over and patted Blaine's knee. "You'll like it."

"Thank you, baby," Daddy said, planting a kiss on his cheek before standing up and setting Kurt down in the chair he'd just vacated. Then, he motioned for Blaine to follow him into the kitchen. "Have you ever made pudding before?" he asked over his shoulder.

Slowly, Blaine uncurled himself from the chair, giving Kurt one more uneasy look.

"You'll like it. It's fun!" Kurt mouthed to him, throwing him a smile. He shifted and winced a bit as he turned back to his work.

With a sigh, Blaine turned toward the kitchen, just in time to hear the end of Noah's question. "Pudding?" he asked, unsure.

"Here. I'll show you." Noah walked to the sink, filling a pot with water and setting it on the stove, burner on, before he turned back to Blaine. "Wash your hands, please."

Blaine did as he was told, soaking his hands thoroughly in soap and water and drying them on the nearby towel before turning to Noah again. He really wasn't sure what to think of all of this. He'd expected to come over and color with Kurt for an hour before going home. He didn't expect Kurt's daddy to ask him questions or have him help with dinner. Normally, he would have begged off, but Kurt had seemed so sure that this was a good thing.

"Here," Noah said, handing him a small box. "Can you read the ingredients that we need?"

Blaine felt silly, but he read, "Two cups of milk and one package of pudding mix."

"Good job!" Noah praised. He had to resist ruffling Blaine's hair. "Can you get the milk from the fridge?"

Slowly but surely, Noah walked Blaine through making the pudding. At first, Blaine felt awkward; he didn't know what to do, but he definitely didn't need to be told each step like a baby. The longer it went on, however, the more he began to enjoy it. It was refreshing not having to worry about anything because Noah would tell him what to do and praise him for a job well done. Before long, they had the pudding in the fridge, mac and cheese on the stove, and chicken nuggets in the oven.

It wasn't the most nutritious dinner, but Noah decided it would work in a pinch. He hadn't been expecting company. Going to the fridge, he pulled out a container of grape tomatoes and a few carrot sticks. "How much homework do you have left, baby?" he called as he arranged them on a plate and put a little ranch dip in the middle.

"All done!" Kurt said, proudly closing the book he'd been reading.

"Good. Blaine, come sit at the table," Noah said, beckoning.

Kurt cleared his school work off of the table, and Blaine slid into his own chair.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Please eat some veggies while you wait." He popped two tomatoes into his mouth. "Do you want juice or water with dinner?" Daddy asked.

"Juice, please!" Kurt replied, crunching a carrot.

Blaine shrugged.

"It's polite to use your words," Noah said gently, making eye contact with Blaine. He'd let it go earlier, but he didn't want it to become a trend. "What kind of juice, Kurt? Grape or apple?"

"Um, grape," Kurt said decisively.

"Um, water?" Blaine asked, unsure.

"You can have juice if you want to," Daddy reassured.

"No thank you," Blaine mumbled. He slowly pulled his feet back up onto his chair. Noah had had to reprimand him, and for some weird reason, Blaine was afraid he was in trouble. He knew he should probably eat some of the veggies, but he didn't really feel like it. Noah wasn't in charge of him anyway.

Noah could sense some of Blaine's nervousness coming back. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to be sure he didn't scare the boy away, even just for Kurt's sake. He crouched next to Blaine's chair, nabbing a napkin from the pile on the table. "I'll bring you some water," he said softly. "But if you change your mind, just tell me, and I'll bring you some juice." Noah took five tomatoes and two carrots ticks from the plate and put them on a napkin in front of Blaine. "Please eat these while I get the rest of your dinner and drinks." He turned to look at Kurt. "Baby, please eat at least three tomatoes."

Kurt let out a small whine but grabbed the requested food and shoved them all into his mouth at once. He hated tomatoes, and it was best to get it over with quickly.

Satisfied, Noah went back to the kitchen, dishing up food onto plates and pouring juice and water into sippy cups.

Meanwhile, once Noah was far enough away not to hear them, Kurt whispered, "Are you okay?" It wasn't that he didn't want Noah to hear them, he just though that Blaine might be more comfortable that way.

"You're daddy's scary," Blaine whispered back.

"He's really nice!"

"He spanked you!" Blaine felt weird bring that up, but he couldn't deny that the thought had terrified him a little.

"I 'served it," Kurt said, reaching out a hand to Blaine. "I'm okay."

"He's makin' us eat veggies," Blaine pointed out.

Kurt shrugged. "I don't like 'matoes, but it's not so bad."

"Don't like carrots," Blaine huffed.

"Daddy wanted you to eat those." Kurt pointed at the napkin in front of his friend.

Slowly, Blaine picked up the tomatoes, eating them one by one. He didn't touch the carrot sticks.

Kurt watched him carefully as he munched on a carrot stick of his own. When it appeared that Blaine wasn't going to eat the carrot, he said, "Daddy will be upset if you don't eat it all."

"See? Mean." Blaine glared at the carrot.

"'s good for you, Blaine."

At that moment, Noah walked back out to the table with two steamy plates and two sippy cups. He plopped them down, a plate and cup in front of each of the boys. Then, he returned to the kitchen, coming back with his own plate and glass as well as utensils for each of them.

Blaine was horrified to see a sippy cup in front of him and his chicken nuggets cut into tiny pieces. He gave Kurt a questioning look.

"Daddy's crazy about messes," Kurt mouthed in a barely audible whisper.

Blaine still wasn't sure, but he started to eat anyway, taking his cues from Kurt. He responded quietly but politely to Noah's questions about sauce for his chicken. Finally, when he' nearly finished his food, he was too thirsty to avoid the sippy cup anymore, which had been his original plan. Shyly, he lifted it, taking an experimental drag. The water flowed freely, and it wasn't that bad. He took another drink. It was kind of nice, actually. The more drinks he took, the more he liked it, and before he knew it, he'd emptied the whole cup.

"Woah, thirsty boy," Noah said. He couldn't prevent the familiar words rolling off his tongue, but as soon as it did, he flashed his eyes to Kurt to be sure he hadn't upset him in any way.

Kurt met his eyes and gave a small smile before returning to his mac and cheese.

Noah sighed with relief. "Do you want more to drink?" he asked Blaine.

A nod.

"Use your words, please."

"Yes, please."

"Thank you. Do you want water or juice?"

Blaine thought for a moment. "Juice?"

"What kind? Grape or apple?"

"Grape."

"Grape, what?" Noah didn't want to press his luck with Blaine, but manners were a big thing between he and Kurt. He wanted to make sure Kurt saw him being consistent, even with his friend around.

Blaine wasn't sure what Noah meant, giving him a confused look. "Grape juice?" he tried.

"What do you say when you want something?" Noah prompted.

Understanding and embarrassment flashed across Blaine's face almost simultaneously. "Grape, please," he whispered, almost too quietly for Noah to hear him.

"Much better. Thank you. Finish our pasta and carrot so we can have dessert," he said, grabbing Blaine's cup and going to refill it.

Blaine took the last few bites of mac and cheese, but unceremoniously dumped his carrot and napkin on his plate.

Noah came back and frowned as he set the full sippy cup down on the table. "You need to eat your carrot, Blaine."

If Blaine had been feeling shy or embarrassed before, al those feelings seemed to vanish as he boldy said, "No."

"I'm sorry," Noah said, fixing him with the look that always made Kurt cringe. "What did you say?"

"No. I won't eat it. They're gross."

Kurt had been enjoying his time with Daddy and Blaine up unto that point. Well, not the spanking. And not his homework. But, it ha been kind of nice to share with Blaine how everything worked with him and his daddy. He knew Blaine understood how he felt when Daddy took care of him, all warm and fuzzy and loved. And the longer Blaine was there, he could tell that maybe Daddy kinda wanted to daddy Blaine and that maybe Blaine needed that. That thought was a little bit scary for Kurt because what if Daddy tried to daddy both of them and ended up only loving Blaine instead? But, as he'd watched them make dinner together, when he was supposed to be doing homework (and maybe he hadn't really finished his reading and would have to do it at school the next morning), he could imagine them having Blaine around more. Kurt thought he maybe, kinda, might like that idea. But now, Blaine had told Daddy "no" which was against their rules. And Kurt didn't know what Daddy was going to do next.

"I'm sorry that you don't like carrots," Daddy was saying, "but in this house, we take Thank You Bites. So, you need to eat at least one bite of carrot, please."

Blaine just pressed his lips together and shook his head. He knew he didn't like carrots. He didn't need to take a Thank You Bite.

Noah sighed. Thank You Bites were something he'd instituted after a particularly bad night he and Kurt had had over a food Kurt refused to try. Thankfully, it had reduced the number of teary dinners they'd had, although there were a few things he still refused to eat. Maybe he could bribe Blaine into eating. "If you have a bite, I'll go get dessert," he tried.

"No." Carrots were gross.

Noah felt a little helpless. He couldn't force Blaine to eat the carrot, but he couldn't let it slide, either, for Kurt's sake.

Kurt didn't really know what Daddy would do to Blaine if he didn't eat the carrot, but he didn't really want to find out. He begged Blaine, "Please just take a bite, Blaine. 's not so bad. I'll eat a 'mato."

Noah was surprised. Kurt _hated_ tomatoes. Maybe having Blaine around would be a good thing?

"No, Kurt. I don't like them."

Noah opened his mouth to say something, but Blaine wasn't finished.

"You're not in charge of me," he told Noah, pointing at him. "You can't make me eat."

So this was a test, then. "No, I'm not," Noah agreed, kicking back in his chair just a little. "But, I am in charge of Kurt. And I can't let anyone come over to play who doesn't follow the rules. I love Kurt, and we have rules to keep him safe and happy. Anyone who won't follow those rules doesn't love Kurt or want him to be safe and happy." He felt bad about saying that, but he didn't have any real leverage other than Kurt. Yet.

Blaine's bottom lip began to tremble as he asked, "So, I can't come over and play anymore?" He hadn't realized how much better this evening was making him feel until Kurt's daddy took that away from him.

Noah wanted to scoop him up, tell him he was sorry, and that he hadn't meant it. The wounded expression on Blaine's face was killing him. But, he forced himself to say, "It does unless you take a Thank You Bite of carrot."

Blaine was torn. He hated carrots a lot. He always had. But, he was enjoying his time here; he didn't feel so lonely for once, and, though perhaps he should have been, he didn't feel afraid of being judged if he felt little. So, slowly, with tears running down his cheeks, he picked up the carrot and took a small bite. He couldn't lose his time with Kurt or the calm feeling he got from being there. The carrot was so gross, though, he nearly choked as he chewed it up.

Immediately, before he'd even swallowed, he felt a gentle hand wipe his tears away with a tissue; he heard a soft, "Good boy." Those words made him feel warm and fuzzy for some reason, but Blaine didn't stop to question it.

Kurt, happy that Blaine had made the right choice, pushed his plate away from him on the table and grabbed Blaine's hand. "Can we go play now, Daddy?": he asked.

"I believe you told Blaine you'd eat a tomato," Daddy replied, one eyebrow raised.

Grumpy look on his face, Kurt grabbed another tomato from the plate on the table and swallowed it down hurriedly. "Now can we go play?" he asked gruffly.

"All your homework is done?" Daddy asked.

"Uh huh!" he exclaimed, feeling only slightly guilty for lying.

"Go ahead then," Noah told them as he stacked up their plates. "I'll come and find you in a little bit."

Excitedly, Kurt jumped up from the table, dragging Blaine along behind him to his room. "You wanna play Barbies?" he asked. "I got lots of 'em."

"Sure," Blaine said, not really knowing how to feel.

The rest of the evening passed easily. The two boys played with Barbies until Noah came to find them with small bowls of pudding. After dessert, Kurt convinced Noah to read them a few stories until he started to yawn. Then, Daddy said, "Well, it's almost Kurt's bedtime. Blaine, are you okay to drive home?" He looked down at the little boy snuggled between Kurt and the arm of the couch.

"Uh huh. I'm okay."

"Good. Why don't you go get your shoes on. Kurt, do you want to follow Blaine home in your car to make sure everything is okay?"

Kurt looked down at his hands. "My car isn't exactly here, Daddy," he mumbled.

"Your car isn't here? Where is it?" Noah demanded.

"Still at Dalton."

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!" Daddy roared for the second time that day. Grabbing his arm, Daddy lifted Kurt off the couch and landed a few swats on his bottom.

Kurt yelped.

"You are going to bed early, young man, because you will have to get up early so I can drive you to school," Noah bellowed.

"Yes, sir," Kurt said meekly.

Blaine hurried to the rug and slipped into his shoes. It seemed like maybe Kurt's daddy was mad now, and it was best that he get home. "I'll be okay by myself," he reassured Noah as he was followed to the rug. "I don't live super far away."

"If you're sure," Noah said, studying him.

"I'm sure," Blaine said. "Thank you for having me."

"You're welcome back any time," Noah said, smiling. "You can come and play with Kurt whenever you like. And if you want to come for dinner again, that's fine as well." Deciding to show the boy just a little bit of affection, he pulled Blaine into a short side hug. "I mean it."

"Yes, sir," Blaine replied, pulling out of the hug.

Kurt hugged him, too, and with that, Blaine was out the door.

Noah watched out the window until his head lights were no longer visible on the street before he turned to Kurt. "Go get ready for bed. Now." he commanded.

"Yes, sir," Kurt said, hustling to his room to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth.

Noah came in a few minutes later to tuck him in. As he sat on the edge of Kurt's bed, brushing his hair out of his face, he decided now was as good a time as any to bring up Blaine. "Baby?" he asked.

"What, Daddy?" Kurt asked, looking up at him with questioning eyes.

"What did you mean earlier when you said that Blaine needs us?"

"Blaine is lonely," Kurt said, tracing a thread on his bedspread. "He needs someone to look after him, care about him. His parents aren't around much."

"He told me that. Kurt, I was thinking..."

"What, Daddy?"

"I was thinking that...maybe I could daddy Blaine, too"

Kurt's eyes turned big, and Noah hurried to take it back. "If you don't want me to, I won't. It doesn't have to be that way. He can come over and play with you. I don't have to daddy him."

"I think—I think that might be okay," Kurt said slowly, not meeting Daddy's gaze. "I kinda think Blaine belongs here."

"You do?" Noah was surprised.

"I was watchin' you cook with him earlier. He fits in. I like him. You want to help him."

"So it's okay then? You're okay if I daddy him, too?"

Kurt thought for a moment. "If I'm not okay with somethin' can I ask you to stop?"

"Stop daddying him?" Noah clarified.

Kurt nodded.

"You can use your safeword. Then we can talk about it together."

Kurt nodded again. "Then I'm okay with it." He got a bit of an excited look on his face and turned a large smile on Daddy. "It will be nice to have another person around who knows how unfair you are."

Daddy grinned back and leaned down, giving Kurt a kiss. "We have to ask him still. He might not agree, you know."

"Can I ask him to come over tomorrow so we can ask him?" Kurt asked. "Please?"

"You can," Daddy agreed. "But right now, you need to go to sleep so I can take you to school tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed Kurt again. "Good night, baby. I love you. I'll be in bed in a few minutes."

"Love you, too, Daddy," Kurt said. He rolled over and settled in, leaving plenty of room on the other side of the bed for Noah.

Noah leaned over and turned off the lamp beside the bed before walking to the bathroom. He quickly got himself ready for bed and brushed his own teeth, climbing into bed next to Kurt less than ten minutes later. He smiled as Kurt settled in, snuggling against his chest. Noah wrapped a protective arm around his baby and closed his eyes. As he began to drift off, he thought about how much his life could change in just a few days.


	3. An Agreement

After that first evening together, Blaine wasn't able to come over for almost a week. Well, it wasn't really that he couldn't, it was that he was too nervous to. Kurt kept asking. Each day, after the final period, he'd invite him to come over and play at his house. And Blaine wanted to. Badly. He longed to color or have Noah read him stories, but he was just too nervous to go. So, he made up an excuse not to, claiming he had too much homework, chores he had to take care of, or he was too tired. Finally, though, he had to give in to Kurt's persistent questioning. He couldn't keep saying 'no' forever. So, when Kurt asked him on Friday if he wanted to come over and play, Blaine said yes.

"Yay!" Kurt said, hopping up and down. "You can follow me there? Then we can color and play and stay up super late because Daddy doesn't make me go to bed so early on Friday." He bounced down the hallway toward the door, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Blaine was following him.

Blaine smiled as he followed Kurt. His excitement was contagious, even though Blaine was feeling like this might not be a good idea. He'd thought going to play with Kurt all the time would be a good thing for him, but after that first night, even after feeling so uncomfortable around Noah, he could clearly see that all it was doing was making him wish harder for things he couldn't have.

"You'll follow me home then?" Kurt asked when they were standing next to their cars.

"Yeah. I'll follow you," Blaine said, sliding behind the wheel. He heard Kurt squeal a little as he got into his own car. Obviously, Kurt had liked having him over to play, so that made things a little bit easier. He was lost in thought as they drove to Kurt's house; he didn't even turn on the radio which was unusual for him. He tried to remind himself not to get too attached to spending time with Kurt and his daddy; while they were being very nice, letting him come over to play, he couldn't be there all the time, and Noah couldn't give him what he needed. Eventually, he knew, they would get tired of him coming around and ask him to stop coming over to play. They needed their alone time after all.

Kurt was thinking, too, on his way home, just as he had all week. He was excited for Blaine to come over! He liked to play with Blaine; mostly, he just listened to what Kurt wanted to do. At least, that was how it had been when they played Barbies last week. And Kurt liked being in charge. But, he was also excited for Daddy to talk to Blaine about being his daddy 'cuz that meant that Kurt would have a full time playmate and Blaine would be around a lot more. Besides that, and what Kurt hadn't told Daddy yet was that he thought he might love Blaine. And the more time that Daddy spent around Blaine? Well, that could only mean that he'd probably fall in love with him, too. Then they could keep Blaine forever. Kurt wasn't worried that Blaine would say no; he was pretty sure that Blaine maybe loved him, too. Plus, even if he didn't yet, he did know that Blaine wanted a daddy, and that would be enough to keep him coming around. They could work on the love part later.

When they pulled into the driveway, Kurt scrambled out of his vehicle, hopping back to Blaine's and bouncing at his door until he opened it. "Hi!" he said, clearly excited. "Are you ready to come in?"

"Uh, yeah," Blaine said, chuckling at Kurt's antics. He climbed out of his car and began to follow Kurt up the sidewalk. He wasn't expecting him to stop in his tracks, though, and he nearly ran into him.

"Do you have your backpack?" Kurt asked, turning. "Daddy will make us do homework 'fore we can play." He let out a dramatic sigh. "Daddy's a stickler 'bout homework."

Blaine retraced his steps to the car, grabbing his backpack before following Kurt back up the sidewalk and into the house. "When will your dad be back from Washington?" he asked as they stepped in the house.

"Um, sometime next week," Kurt said. "Daddy's staying with me 'til he gets back." He kicked off his shoes and shouldered off his backpack. "C'mon," he said, gesturing. "Let's go get cookies!" He waited impatiently for Blaine to take off his backpack and shoes before hurrying toward the kitchen.

Noah was sitting at the kitchen table, his homework already spread out around him. "Hi, baby," he greeted, not looking up from his work.

"Hi, Daddy!" Kurt said, rushing past. "Blaine came with me, too!"

"Oh." That did make Noah look up, catching sight of the smaller boy following Kurt into the kitchen. "Hi, Blaine," he said with a smile. "Kurt, only one cookie for each of you," Noah called after his eager boyfriend. "I don't want you spoiling your dinner."

"But-" Kurt began to argue.

"Would you like to have no cookies, Kurt?" Daddy asked, getting up from the table and coming into the kitchen.

"No, sir," Kurt mumbled. He was embarrassed to be in trouble in front of Blaine again.

"Then the next thing I should hear out of your mouth is 'Thank you, Daddy,' isn't it?"

"Thank you, Daddy," Kurt replied docile. He reached into the jar and pulled out two cookies, handing one to Blaine before taking a large bite. "Mmm," he moaned around the large bite. "Vis is vo goov."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Daddy chastised. He turned his gaze to Blaine who had said nothing so far, nibbling away at his cookie. "Hi, Blaine," Noah repeated, giving him a warm smile. "How was school today?" 

Blaine shrugged. "Fine," he mumbled.

Noah felt like a jerk, but he said, "When someone says 'hello' to you, it's polite of you to say it back." He wanted to add that he felt like shrugging was rude, but he didn't want to make him feel too uncomfortable.

Blaine blushed. "Hi," he said quietly.

"Good boy," Noah praised, reaching out to pat him comfortingly on the shoulder. "You boys have homework today?" 

"Just a little," Kurt said, swallowing the last bite of his cookie. "Since it's Friday, though, Daddy, I was wondering if-"

"No. Even though it's Friday, you still have to do your homework before you play. I don't know what you're going to ask to do instead, but the answer is no. If you do your homework now, we will have the entire weekend to spend together." Noah was secretly hoping that that meant all three of them would be together for the whole weekend, but he needed to talk to Blaine before he could make any plans like that. So, instead, he motioned toward the table. "Go get your homework, please, and get started. I'll bring us all some glasses of water. If you can finish your homework before dinner, we will do something fun after." 

Kurt hurried off to retrieve his backpack, and Blaine followed on his heels. He wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Noah was acting as if Blaine would be allowed to stay for the fun thing after dinner, and Blaine didn't know what it was, but he wasn't sure he should be invited. Wasn't doing fun things just for Kurt and Noah? He wasn't a part of their little family, after all. He was just Kurt's playmate. He decided he shouldn't get too attached to the idea of staying for the fun thing. Noah had probably just been promising something fun to Kurt, and they would ask him to leave after they ate if not before.

The three boys worked on their homework for the remainder of the afternoon. Kurt was plowing through his work, eager to get it finished so he could find out what Daddy might have planned for them. He kept making side-long glances in Noah's direction, wondering when Daddy would decide to talk with Blaine. Kurt wanted him to do it now! Wasting time was silly when Blaine could be having fun with them, happy that he finally had the one thing that he'd said he really wanted. Kurt thought about reminding Daddy about it. Maybe he had forgotten? He was afraid that he might get a 'minder about telling grownups what to do, though, and he really didn't want to get into any more trouble in front of Blaine. Twice was enough. Besides, if Blaine did join them, he would have to try extra hard not to get into trouble. Blaine was really nice, and he might be sympathetic to Kurt's plight, but it was still embarrassing for him to see Kurt reprimanded.

Noah glanced at the clock a few different times during their study session. He was feeling more distracted than he wanted to. Having Blaine in the room was making him think about what he wanted to tell the boy later that night, and his mind kept swirling with scenarios. What was he going to say to him? How would Blaine react? What would he do if Blaine said 'no'? And how would Kurt take it? These things were causing him to lose focus easily, and for a moment, he considered putting his homework away and finishing it later. But, he couldn't really do that. He had just lectured Kurt about playing before his homework was finished. It would hardly look good for him to have to excuse himself from their activities on Sunday to finish his homework. So, instead, he put his head down and powered through, finally finishing up a little before 6 o'clock.

Blaine felt like there was an odd tension in the room. He would glance at Kurt every once in a while, and he would always find him staring. Sometimes he was staring at Noah, sometimes he was staring at the wall, and sometimes, he was even staring at Blaine. Whenever Blaine would catch him staring at him, he would look away quickly, his cheeks coloring at being caught. Blaine didn't know exactly what that meant. He also didn't know why Noah kept looking at him. Was he just checking to see if he was working on his homework like he was supposed to be? It was making Blaine uncomfortable, and he thought about begging off, going home to have his weekend in peace. Maybe that's why Noah was staring at him, trying to figure out why he was crashing the beginning of their weekend. He tried to shrug it off, though. If they asked him to leave, it would be no big deal. He would go home to his empty house just like he did every weekend and spend his time listening to music, watching TV, and trying not to be too angry at his parents.

As soon as Noah was done with his homework, he pushed his chair back from the table, looking at the two boys in his care. He could tell that Blaine seemed to be finishing up an assignment, but Kurt was just staring into space. "Kurt?" he asked, trying to get the boy's attention. "How much homework do you have left?"

"Um, I'm almost done, Daddy," Kurt said, looking down at his page of mathematics questions and feeling completely lost. "I'll just be a little bit longer."

"What about you, Blaine?" Noah asked.

"Done," he said, giving them a small smile. He leaned over and began putting his books back into his bag.

"Great!" Noah said. "Are you guys hungry?"

"Yeah!" Kurt cheered! "Daddy, can we order pizza? Please!"

"We can order pizza," Daddy said, smiling at the excitement on his baby's face. "But we're not eating it in the living room while we watch a movie."

Kurt's smile changed immediately to a pout. "But, Daddy! You said we can do that on special 'ccasions! And this is a special 'ccasion!" He winked.

Noah fixed him with a look. "That's enough, Kurt Elizabeth. I said we're not watching a movie while we eat our pizza. If you would like, I can just cook something, and we won't have pizza at all."

"No! Daddy, we can have pizza and no movie. I'll be good. Promise." He made a cross over his heart.

"What kind do you like, Blaine?" Daddy asked, turning to the silent boy.

"I'll eat anything," Blaine said. He didn't want to be a pain. "But, if you guys want to have pizza alone, I can leave..."

"Do you have somewhere else to be?" Noah asked. "Is someone waiting for you at home?"

"No, sir."

"Then I want you to stay for dinner. I was hoping to talk to you for a little while."

Blaine gulped. What could Kurt's daddy want to talk to him about. He hadn't done anything naughty while he'd been there. Maybe he wanted to talk about the carrot situation from last week. "Um, o-okay," he mumbled.

"What kind of pizza do you like?" Noah asked again, watching the apprehension wash over the boy's face.

"I like anything. Really. I'm not picky."

"Is pepperoni okay?" Noah asked. "Or do you prefer sausage?"

"I like pepperoni," Blaine said.

"Pepperoni it is then. Okay, baby?"

"Uh huh, Daddy," Kurt said, trying to refocus on his homework. He knew Daddy would not let him up to play until his homework was done, even if that meant he had to work on it after dinner, and he really didn't want to be stuck doing homework while Daddy talked with Blaine. 

"Okay," Daddy said, reaching for his cell phone. "I'll place the order. Would you like to help me make dessert, Blaine?" he asked, trying to make eye contact with the boy.

"Um, sure?" Blaine said. He wasn't sure what else he would do, but he wasn't entirely sure that he was comfortable doing that with Noah again. The pudding making hadn't been too bad though, so maybe it would be fun?

"Excellent," Noah replied, placing the call.

Kurt tapped Blaine on the hand, getting his attention. "You okay?" he asked. "You seem nervous."

Blaine shrugged. "Shouldn't you be working on your homework?" he asked. He didn't want to talk about himself.

With a glare, Kurt turned back to his homework. Why was Blaine being so mean? He was just trying to be nice. Maybe he didn't want Daddy to talk to this boy about daddying him.

Blaine noticed the hurt look on his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just feel a little uncomfortable with..." he swallowed hard, "your daddy."

Kurt patted his knee comfortingly. "Don't worry. He likes you," he whispered back.

Just then, Noah got off the phone, and Kurt went back to his homework, not wanting to be reprimanded again.

"I thought we could make cookies," Noah offered.

Blaine wasn't sure. He'd never made cookies before. "Um..." he said, biting his lower lip.

"Don't chew on yourself," Daddy reprimanded before he could stop himself. He rubbed Blaine's arm comfortingly. "You'll be okay. I'll help you. Go wash your hands?"

With a nod, Blaine headed into the kitchen. He didn't know why Noah wanted to cook with him so much. It was something he'd never done before, and it wasn't like he was part of Noah and Kurt's little family anyway. He was just there to play with Kurt sometimes.

After Blaine, Noah washed his hands as well. "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?" he asked. "We're almost out because _someone_ keeps eating them all," he said, making sure he was loud enough that Kurt could hear him. "So I thought we could make some more for you boys to eat after school." Noah wasn't sure how that would go over, but he couldn't help himself. This waiting-to-tell-Blaine thing was harder than he'd thought.

That brought a smile to the sullen boy's face. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, clapping a bit. "Chocolate chip are my favorite!" He was excited to hear that Noah planned on him coming home with Kurt after school more, too.

"Excellent!" Noah said, reaching up into the cabinet over the microwave. "Can you read what we need to get out?"

With only slight embarrassment, Blaine read the ingredient list, taking Noah's instruction on where to find them until the counter was covered with everything they'd need to make cookies. He asked for a mixing bowl and a few measuring spoons, and then he was off, mixing the ingredients together into the dough. He stopped a few times to ask Noah if he'd done something correctly, preening under each "good job" and "perfect" that Noah threw his way. It was nice to have someone paying attention to him for once. Blaine couldn't think of a single time when he'd felt that way at home.

Once the mixing was done, Noah showed Blaine how to put the dough into little mounds on the cookie sheet, making sure to leave enough space between each cookie so they didn't bake together. Noah could tell Blaine was beginning to relax a bit, his face lighting up in a smile each time he placed a cookie down or Noah complemented him on his skills at following directions. Once he was sure that the little boy felt comfortable with what he was doing, he gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "You keep up the good work," he said. "I'm going to go and check on Kurt."

Blaine beamed. "Mkay! 'm gonna finish."

Noah gave him another smile before walking out to the table and taking a seat next to his studious boyfriend. He smoothed some hair back from his face and kissed his cheek. "How are you doing, baby?" he asked.

"Fine," Kurt said without looking up. "'m almost done."

"Good boy," Noah quietly praised. "The pizza should be here any minute."

"'m hungry," Kurt said. Just then his tummy growled, causing both he and Daddy to chuckle.

"I can tell," Daddy said, kissing his cheek again. "I'm proud of you for doing your homework like a big boy while Blaine and I make cookies."

Kurt nodded. "Blaine likes it?"

"I think so. He seems to be having a good time."

Blaine was watching Kurt and his daddy from his spot in the kitchen. He had just finished putting the last cookie onto the tray, and he had eaten just a tiny bit of cookie dough. He could feel the familiar jealousy feeling creeping up on him again, and he worked to tamp it down. It was okay that Kurt had a daddy and he didn't. He just had to be patient. The right daddy would come along some time. Right now, he had to be happy that he got to play with Kurt and be around his daddy.

He decided to distract himself from his feelings. Turning, he glanced at the oven. Noah had set it to preheat earlier, and he could tell that it was ready. He glanced at the recipe again, noting how long they had to bake. Then, he grabbed a tray of cookies and carried it carefully to the oven. He pulled the door open, and a wave of heat hit him. He took a step back. He had never baked anything before, and he hadn't expected the oven to feel so hot. He wasn't sure he was making a good choice after all and considered not putting the cookies in. Then, he glanced back at the two boys sitting at the table, laughing together. He could be big, he decided. He could help out Kurt and his daddy since they were being so nice to him. Slowly, carefully, he pushed the tray of cookies into the oven, smiling as it went in easily. However, he slightly miscalculated how far to push, and his hand met the hot rack of the oven. "Ow," he yelled, clutching his hand to his chest. Tears immediately filled his eyes.

A moment later, Noah came rushing into the kitchen, a panicked look on his face. He had been in the middle of reassuring Kurt that everything was going to be fine when they spoke to Blaine about letting Daddy daddy him. "Even if he says no, he will still be your friend, baby," Noah had said, rubbing at his baby's back. Just then, they had heard the sound of a pan sliding into the oven. He had been about to call out to Blaine, warn him to be careful and to please wait for him when he'd heard the pained shriek and had jumped from the table, running into the kitchen, Kurt following closely behind him.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Noah asked, hurrying to the little boy's side. "Show me where you hurt yourself." Slowly and carefully, he pulled Blaine's arms away from his chest, gently tugging at his left wrist until his left hand fell away, revealing the angry red mark on the top of his right palm. Noah hissed a bit at the sight. "I'm sure that hurts," Noah said softly, rubbing at Blaine's back with one hand while he held his right wrist with the other. "Come over here." He led him to the sink and turned on the tap to a cool temperature. "Hold your hand under here for a while, please," he instructed gently.

Blaine did as he was told, hissing when the water first made contact with the burn, then relaxing as it began to ease the pain. He let Noah guide his wrist back and forth, moving the stream over the entirety of the burn on his palm. He felt silly for crying like he was, but it was nice to have someone taking care of him for once, so he tried not to think about it, focusing instead on Noah's calm demeanor to calm himself and stop crying.

Noah rubbed soothingly at Blaine's back for a moment. "Kurt," he said quietly, beckoning to the little boy who stood shocked in the entryway to the kitchen. "Will you get the first aid kit from the bathroom, please?"

Kurt nodded tightly. "He okay?" he whispered, worried.

"He'll be fine. It's just a little burn," Noah reassured.

"'kay." Kurt left the room, returning a few minutes later with the first aid kit which he handed to Daddy. He stepped back from the sink just a little, wanting to be nearby but not in the way.

But, Daddy had other plans. "Kurt," he said again. "I want you to go and finish your homework, sweetheart. I'm just going to get Blaine fixed up, and then the pizza will be here. After dinner, we can watch a movie, alright? But I need your homework to be finished.

"But-" Kurt started, but Daddy held up a hand.

"I need you to finish it for me. I want to have a fun weekend with no homework to worry about. Blaine is going to be just fine."

"'kay, Daddy," Kurt whispered, going slowly to the table to finish his work. He wasn't happy about it, but Blaine needed his daddy right now, and he didn't want to argue.

"How does it feel now?" Noah asked Blaine, moving the water across his burn again.

"Better," Blaine whispered, voice thick from crying.

"Good." Noah shut the water off and patted the burned area gently with a paper towel to dry it.

Blaine winced. The rough towel did not feel good against his skin, and, coupled with the return of the sting without the cool water, he whimpered a bit.

"I know that didn't feel nice," Noah apologized. "But I need it to be dry so I can bandage it." Without warning, he lifted Blaine onto the counter next to the first aid box. "Stay here, please," he said. "I'm just going to take care of something." With that, he walked over to the oven, taking out the tray of unbaked dough and closing the oven before he returned to his charge. "Hold out your hand, please."

Blaine did as he was told, watching Noah carefully. He flinched away from him when his finger, coated in some white substance from a little red and white tube, came near the burn.

"This won't hurt," Noah reassured. "It's some burn ointment. It's going to make your hand feel better."

Stiffly, Blaine held his hand out, ready to pull it back at the first sensation of pain. He was surprised when the ointment touched the burn. It felt cool against the heat of his skin, and he sighed with relief, holding very still until Noah was finished.

Noah reached back into the first aid kit and pulled out a long piece of Ace bandage. Carefully, he wrapped it around the little boy's hand, covering up the burned area. "All better?" he asked once he had the bandage secured.

Blaine nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Um, Blaine, I-"

Just then, Kurt came back into the kitchen with a large pizza box in his hand. "Pizza's here," he announced.

"Thank you, baby," Noah told him, glancing back at Blaine's face. He knew the pizza was here, but he didn't think their talk should wait any longer. "Will you be okay if we wait to eat for just a minute? I want to talk to Blaine."

Kurt eyed Daddy, trying to decide if he wanted to lecture him about using the oven without an adult or if this was _the_ talk. His tummy was grumbly, but this could be important. "'m okay," he said finally.

"Good. Let's go to the living room," Daddy said, helping Blaine down from the counter and following behind the two boys.

Blaine was really nervous, fighting back tears again. He had made a stupid decision, trying to put the cookies in the oven, and now Noah was going to tell him he was bad for Kurt and make him leave. He wouldn't be allowed to come back over and play anymore, and Kurt probably wouldn't be his friend at school anymore. All of this was very overwhelming, and he began to cry silently. Large, hot tears rolled down his face, but he scuffed them away with the back of his hand quickly. He didn't want Kurt and his daddy to see him cry. He would wait until he was safely in his car.

Kurt and Blaine sat down next to one another on the couch, so Noah took a seat on the coffee table across from them so he could see them both. He immediately saw the tears in Blaine's eyes and decided to make this as quick as he could. He couldn't look at that sad face without doing something about it for very long. He cleared his throat. "Blaine, Kurt and I would like to ask you something." He smiled at the little boy, catching Kurt's eye and giving him a smile, too. "We'd like to ask you if...well, if you'd like me to be your daddy, too." He watched Blaine's face intently, looking for any sign that would indicate how the boy was feeling.

Blaine swallowed, trying to process what he'd just heard. They hadn't asked him to leave? They hadn't told him he could never come back? He didn't know what to think. He'd been trying to prepare himself to leave with dignity. He'd never imagined that he'd be asked if he wanted the one thing he thought he'd never have. It was too much, and he couldn't speak. Instead he started crying again. _Stupid tears_ , he thought. But he couldn't stop them.

Kurt was worried. Blaine was crying, and no one was saying anything. He was pretty sure this wasn't good news. He leaned out and grabbed Daddy's hand then took one of Blaine's squeezing them both. "You okay?" he whispered to Blaine. That earned him a nod. "You gonna say yes?" he whispered again. "Me 'n' Daddy like you, and we wanna help."

Blaine gulped and sniffed loudly. "Yes," he whispered, his voice heavy and wet. "I would love that." He tried to smile at them, but it wasn't very convincing with all the tears.

"Eeek!" Kurt squealed, pulling Blaine into a tight hug.

Noah smiled, too, leaning forward to pull the two boys against him in a hug. Then, he leaned back, taking Blaine's face into his hands. He wiped away the tears with the pad of this thumb soothingly. "I'm so glad to hear that, Blaine," he said, making eye contact. "And we can talk all about what that means later. But, for now, I know three people that need to eat, and one pizza that's getting cold. Shall we have some dinner? We can talk later."

Blaine nodded, looking at Kurt. "'m hungry," he said. "And I'm sorry about the cookies."

"You're forgiven," Noah assured as he stood. "You didn't know. But consider that one of your rules. No touching the oven without an adult."

"Yes, sir," Blaine said, smiling as he and Kurt rose to follow Noah into the kitchen.

"And no more 'sir,'" Noah commanded. "I'm Daddy now."

"Yes, si—Daddy," Blaine whispered.

"Good boy," Noah praised. He began pulling plates out of the cabinet to load up with pizza. "You know, Kurt," he said over his shoulder, "I changed my mind about the movie. Why don't the two of you go and pick something out? I'll bring the pizza out in a minute."

"Yeah!" Kurt cheered. Having Blaine around was already turning out to be a great thing for him. "Come on, Blainers," he said, pulling on his arm. "Let's go pick out a movie!"

The two of them raced into the living room, stopping in front a huge rack of DVDs. "Wow," Blaine said, his eyes growing large. "You have lotsa movies."

"Yep! Daddy and I love watchin' movies," Kurt said, kneeling to grab one from a lower shelf. "Lilo and Stitch?" he asked, holding up the DVD.

"Sure," Blaine said. "I like that one."

"Me, too," Kurt told him. He straightened and pulled his friend into a hug. "I'm so glad you said yes," he whispered.

"Me, too."

"What did you pick out, boys?" Noah asked, walking in with three plates of pizza and two sippy cups balanced carefully in one arm.

"Lilo and Stitch!" Kurt said excitedly, popping the movie into the player before racing to the couch and bouncing down onto the seat next to Daddy.

"Your favorite," Daddy commented, eyeing his baby suspiciously. "Did you let Blaine help, or did you just tell him what we were watching?"

"Blaine said 's okay. Right Blainers?"

Blaine nodded, taking a seat on the other side of Noah.

"Good." Noah passed out the pizza and the sippy cups.

Kurt was delighted to find lemonade in his. "Thanks, Daddy!" he said, slurping noisily.

"Finish your pizza or no cookies for dessert," Noah said, leaning back into the couch.

Everyone enjoyed their pizza with warm cookies from the oven for dessert. Then, to Noah's delight, both boys snuggled against him, Kurt with his head on Daddy's shoulder and Blaine with his head in Noah's lap. Noah began massaging Blaine's head lazily with one hand as he watched the movie, loosening Blaine's curls from their gel prison.

Blaine sighed happily, making a little humming noise as he sucked on his thumb, his eyes half closed. This was exactly what he wanted, and while he was still a little uncomfortable around Kurt's, er, his daddy, he loved the feeling of Noah's had massaging his head.

Kurt was happy, too. He had been afraid he might be jealous of his daddy touching someone else, but watching how happy snuggling with Noah made Blaine, he couldn't be mad. Instead, he leaned on Daddy's shoulder, drawing lazy circles on Blaine shoulder. He tried to pay attention to the movie, but his eyes kept getting heavier and heavier.

Before the movie was over, all three of the boys had fallen asleep, cuddled together on the couch.


End file.
